Heat propagation in dentin during cavity preparation in vitro with oscillating instruments

The purpose of this work was to study the temperature rise caused by preparation of human dentin using two different types of oscillating instruments. A newly designed tungsten carbide tip (Cariex TC, KaVo) and a diamond-coated tip (Cariex D, KaVo) in combination with an airscaler (Sonicflex 2003L, KaVo) and two different flow rates of two coolants were investigated. For both tips significant differences in temperature rise were found between cooling with waterspray or with Plakout Gel (Kerr, HaWe) and using no coolant. A flow of 7.3 ml water/min was found to be sufficient to avoid any critical temperature rise, an excavation of longer duration without coolant cannot be recommended. The use of water-based highly viscous substances over a defined period during the caries excavation process seems to be a viable alternative.